Traverse Fire at Lehi, Utah caused by fireworks. Photo by Justin Reeves June 28, 2020.
A person using fireworks ignited a wildfire south of Salt Lake City, Utah that led to evacuations north of Lehi.
The Traverse Fire was reported around 12 p.m. Saturday and quickly grew onto Traverse Mountain. Notices from Lehi Community Emergency Response around 3 a.m. Sunday said several areas near the mountain were ordered to evacuate: “Any homes one quarter mile radius from Vialetto Way to Annuvolato Way evacuate, also Autumn Hills Blvd and Spring View Lane.” In Draper city the Maple Hollow neighborhood was ordered to evacuate at about 5 a.m. Sunday.
Aerial photo of the Traverse Fire Sunday morning, June 28 via @UtahWildfire. It burned up to the back yards of 23 homes in a new subdivision on West Autumn Hills Blvd.
The fire burned up to the back yards of 23 homes in a new subdivision on West Autumn Hills Blvd.
Map showing the approximate location of the Traverse Fire on the north side of Lehi, Utah.
At 11:55 a.m. Sunday Utah Fire Info reported that the Traverse Fire had been mapped at 450 acres. Evacuations were still in effect but “will be reassessed after the anticipated, strong wind event in the forecast has passed.” A current Red Flag Warning for the area is due to low humidity and 20 mph winds gusting over 40 mph through the afternoon. There is a good chance of rain after 3 p.m. Sunday.
Traverse Fire at Lehi, Utah caused by fireworks. Photo by Justin Reeves June 28, 2020.
The National Park Service and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem are planning a fireworks extravaganza over the pine forest at Mount Rushmore National Memorial July 3, 2020.
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Rick. Typos or errors, report them HERE.
The fire has grown to over 95,000 acres, approaching “megafire” status of 100,000 acres
(Originally published at 2:29 p.m. MDT June 27, 2020)
Night operations at Summerhaven on the Bighorn Fire. Photo by David Melendez June 26, 2020.
The National Weather Service in Tucson has issued a Red Flag Warning for Tucson and the Bighorn Fire area from noon to 8 p.m. MST Sunday and from noon to 8 p.m. MST Monday. The prediction is for strong winds, low humidity, and very high fire danger. The wind is expected to be out of the southwest at 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph Sunday, and on Monday, southwest at 15 to 20 mph with gusts between 35 and 40 mph. The relative humidity will be 10 to 17 percent in the valleys and 13 to 21 percent in the mountains.
From the Incident Management Team on Saturday:
“Friday night, burnout operations south of Davis Spring Road and 4 miles west of Redington were conducted to reduce the risk of eastward fire spread. Aerial ignition operations were conducted near Palisade Canyon and Green Mountain to improve firelines and reduce the risk of uncontrolled fire reaching the Catalina Highway. East of Saddlebrook a firing operation improved firelines. Holding, mop up and structure protection was the focus in Summerhaven, Willow Canyon, and Saddlebrook. Biosphere, Oracle, and Sabino Canyon were in patrol status.
“Saturday’s Activities: Crews will hold and improve line near Willow Canyon, Palisade Canyon, Green Mountain, and south of the Davis Spring Road. Hotshot crews will build fireline on the south side of Green Mountain. A hand crew will work to extinguish a hotspot approximately three miles northeast of Catalina State Park. East of the fire, construction will continue on contingency lines by connecting to existing road systems. Structure protection will be in place for Saddlebrook and along the Catalina Highway.Initial attack resources are pre-positioned around the fire.”
A mapping flight Friday night determined that the Bighorn Fire had burned 95,225 acres, a 24-hour increase of over 7,000 acres.
3-D map of the Bighorn Fire looking southeast. The red line was the perimeter at 10:31 p.m. MDT June 26, 2020. The green line was the perimeter about 48 hours before.Map of the Bighorn Fire. The red line was the perimeter at 10:31 p.m. MDT June 26, 2020. The green line was the perimeter about 48 hours before.Firing operation on Oracle Ridge at the Bighorn Fire. Inciweb photo June 23, 2020.
Avondale Fire. Photo by Arizona State Forestry 6-26-2020.
Since the Avondale Fire started Friday afternoon west of Phoenix it has burned approximately 980 acres, the Arizona State Forestry announced at 10:49 a.m. MDT Saturday. It has been burning through a river bottom in salt cedar, creating thick, dark smoke.
First reported near 113th Avenue and Indian Springs Road in Avondale, it began on state land and has burned onto a parcel managed by the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. It is about half a mile northwest of Phoenix Raceway.
Map showing heat (the red dots) detected by a satellite on the Avondale Fire at 4:12 a.m. MDT June 27, 2020.Avondale Fire. Photo by Arizona State Forestry 6-27-2020.
(UPDATE at 2:30 p.m. MDT June 27, 2020: the National Weather Service may or may not have correctly identified the red areas on the map as Red Flag Warning areas for today, Saturday June 27. We are checking to confirm. The image is a screenshot from the NWS web site.)
(Originally published at 9:40 a.m. MDT June 27, 2020)
The National Weather Service has issued Red Flag Warnings for June 27 in areas of Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. Most of the areas will experience strong winds and low humidities, resulting in enhanced wildfire danger.
(Red Flag Warnings can be modified throughout the day as NWS offices around the country update and revise their weather forecasts.)
Jim Strain who took this photo from the Fairburn, SD area, said it looked like this storm cell was over the Mine Draw Fire. Posted by Jim at 1:04 p.m. MDT June 25, 2020.
Custer State Park announced that as of 2 p.m. today the Mine Draw Fire is 100 percent contained. We are waiting to hear if the Governor has declared it officially contained.
That was around the time that a very large thunderstorm cell was centered over the fire. As of 3:18 p.m. 0.25″ of rain had been measured at the Custer State Park airport.
Radar shows rain over the Mine Draw Fire. Posted by Galen Hoogestraat at 1:32 p.m. MDT June 25, 2020.
(UPDATED at 12:14 p.m. MDT June 25, 2020)
The only official information available today about the Mine Draw Fire was issued by the South Dakota Governor’s office. The update said the fire has burned 60 acres, which is a decrease from the Wednesday afternoon estimate of 150 acres.
The fire was reported at 11:19 a.m. June 24 in Custer State Park six miles south of Mount Rushmore.
The statement from the Governor’s office said that in addition to the hand crews and fire engines, there are two Type 1 helicopters and one air attack plane on scene for a total of 117 personnel. Yesterday three Type 1 Hotshot crews were at the fire or en route.
A resident near the fire said that last night the wind in the fire area was calm and there was not much smoke. Another person who was farther way could clearly see the smoke column yesterday but early this morning none was visible.
The weather station at the Custer State Park airport recorded a maximum relative humidity overnight of 70 percent. At 11:18 a.m. MDT today it had dropped to 39 percent, the temperature was 83, and the wind was 12 mph out of the northeast gusting up to 21 mph. The forecast for the fire area at 5 p.m. calls for the temperature going down to 73, humidity 54 percent, and increasing cloud cover with showers and thunderstorms likely.
With the overnight conditions, the forecast, and the resources on hand, the firefighters could have a good chance of stopping the spread of the 60-acre fire today.
(UPDATED at 8:15 p.m. MDT June 24, 2020)
Two additional hotshot crews are en route to the Mine Draw Fire east of Custer, South Dakota — the Roosevelt Hotshots from Colorado and the Wyoming Hotshots.
The fire is half a mile north of the Legion Lake Fire that burned 54,000 acres in December, 2017.
The South Dakota Governor’s senior advisor and policy director, Maggie Seidel, said at 8:15 p.m. MDT Wednesday that the fire has burned 150 acres.
The customary system for distributing information about wildfires in the Black Hills is with local agency information officers coordinated through the Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Center. But for this fire, information is being controlled by Governor Kristi Noem’s office.
(Originally published at 5:37 p.m. MDT June 24, 2020)
Mine Draw Fire, June 24, 2020. Photo by Custer State Park.
Firefighters in the Black Hills are attacking a fire that was discovered at 11:19 Wednesday morning in Custer State Park six miles south of Mount Rushmore.
The Mine Draw Fire had grown to 150 acres by 4:30 p.m. and was being attacked by firefighters on the ground and in the air north of Highway 16A and east of Highway 87. The blaze is west of the Custer State Park maintenance shop on the north side of 87 and seven miles east of Custer.
Map showing the location of the Mine Draw Fire June 24, 2020.
Scott Jacobson, a spokesperson for the Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Center said firefighting resources working on the fire included fire engines from several agencies, dozers, and the Tatanka Hotshots.
A variety of firefighting aircraft were seen over the fire Wednesday afternoon:
Two large air tankers: T-02, a BAe-146; and T-162, an RJ85; they were dispatched from Pueblo, CO and Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport near Denver, respectively.
Three Single Engine Air tankers, all Air Tractor 802s;
Two helicopters, a Sikorsky S-61A and an Airbus AS50;
Plus a lead plane and air attack.
The air tankers were refilling with retardant the Rapid City Air Tanker Base at the Regional Airport.
Aircraft over the Mine Draw Fire at 4:39 p.m. MDT June 24, 2020.
The Black Hills are in a moderate drought, and the weather Wednesday has been on the high side of moderate from a firefighters’ point of view. Since the fire started, the weather station not far away at the Custer State Park airport has recorded temperatures in the mid 80s, relative humidity around 30 percent, and winds out of the east or northeast at 4 to 8 mph gusting at 12 to 16 mph.
The Mount Rushmore area in the Black Hills of South Dakota is currently in “Moderate Drought”. pic.twitter.com/k85qLn4tL8
Firing operations are being conducted to protect Saddlebrooke
(UPDATED at 7:53 a.m. MDT June 25, 2020)
Bighorn Fire on Samaniego Peak, 6 p.m. June 24. Inciweb photo.
The Bighorn Fire north of Tucson was active Wednesday and Wednesday night. As firefighters worked on structure protection and fireline reinforcement in the Summerhaven and Willow Canyon areas, helicopters and air tankers successfully slowed fire spread and reduced fire intensity in the west fork of Sabino, Bird, and Rattlesnake canyons. Aerial firing operations in the Charouleau Gap area four miles east of Saddlebrook started around 5 pm.
(To see all articles about the Bighorn fire, including the most recent, click here.)
3-D map of the Bighorn Fire looking southeast. The red line was the perimeter at 9:46 p.m. MDT June 24, 2020. The green line was the perimeter about 24 hours before.
Firing operations also were carried out along the Catalina Highway near Spencer Peak and Spencer Canyons one mile east of Summerhaven and reinforced firelines near Dodge Wash two miles south of Oracle.
Map of the Bighorn Fire. The red line was the perimeter at 9:46 p.m. MDT June 24, 2020. The green line was the perimeter about 24 hours before.
A mapping flight Wednesday night determined that the Bighorn Fire had burned 81,702 acres, a 24-hour increase of over 7,000 acres.
(Originally published at 9:47 a.m. MDT June 24, 2020)
3-D map of the Bighorn Fire looking southeast. The green line was the perimeter June 19, 2020. The red line was the perimeter at 10:52 p.m. MDT June 23, 2020. The shaded areas represent intense heat detected by the mapping sensors in the fixed wing aircraft.
The Bighorn Fire has grown significantly in recent days to the north, west, and east. Since June 19 it has spread two miles to the west, five miles north, and three miles east.
During a mapping flight at 10:52 p.m. June 23 the fire was two miles south of Oracle, three miles south of Highway 77, and 2.5 miles southeast of Saddlebrooke. The fire has now burned 74,547 acres after starting from a lighting strike on June 5. About $21 million has been spent on managing the blaze.
A DC-10 Very Large Air Tanker drops retardant near Pontatoc Ridge on the Bighorn Fire north of Tucson, June 11, 2020. Photo by Tim Peterson.
On Tuesday structure protection and containment work supported by helicopter bucket drops focused around Mt. Lemmon, Summerhaven, and Willow Canyon. Low-intensity firing operations removed pockets of unburned fuels in these areas. Aerial firing operations were conducted south of Oracle. The efforts near Oracle Ridge and Rice Peak are intended to reduce the risk of uncontrolled fire growth to the north in the coming days.
Resources assigned to the fire Tuesday included 20 hand crews, 81 fire engines, 6 dozers, 19 water tenders, and 10 helicopters for a total of 876 personnel. The number of personnel assigned has decreased by 112 since Monday. There have been 4 minor injuries.
Bighorn Fire as seen from Saddlebrook June 23, 2020. Photo by Molly Hunter.
